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Romney's response to Trump's white supremacist comments is essential reading.

"This is a defining moment for President Trump. But much more than that, it is a moment that will define America in the hearts of our children."

Mitt Romney and President Donald Trump have always had a somewhat peculiar relationship.

When Romney ran for president in 2012, Trump alternated between insulting the former Massachusetts governor and ultimately offering his endorsement. Similarly, when Trump campaigned in 2016, Romney slammed Trump's policies and unwillingness to release his tax returns, but cozied up to him after the election.

"Frenemies" is probably the most accurate way to describe their relationship.


Trump and Romney met for dinner in November 2016. The awkward look sums up the relationship pretty well. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images.

After managing to (mostly) bite his tongue over Trump's tumultuous first months in office, Romney laid into him with a fiery Facebook post.

At issue was Trump's moral character and the signal he sent to white supremacists and neo-Nazis in the wake of the Charlottesville protests.

I will dispense for now from discussion of the moral character of the president's Charlottesville statements. Whether he...

Posted by Mitt Romney on Friday, August 18, 2017

There are some key takeaways from Romney's post.

1. "Whether he intended to or not, what he communicated caused racists to rejoice, minorities to weep, and the vast heart of America to mourn."

Getting right to the heart of the matter, Romney directly called out Trump on the message sent to the white supremacist community. Groups picked up on Trump's dog-whistle signals and reacted accordingly.

"His apologists strain to explain that he didn't mean what we heard. But what we heard is now the reality, and unless it is addressed by the president as such, with unprecedented candor and strength, there may commence an unraveling of our national fabric."

Trump during his now-infamous press conference on Aug. 15. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images.

2. "The leaders of our branches of military service have spoken immediately and forcefully, repudiating the implications of the president's words."

It's not every day military leadership is forced to clarify or rebuke something said by the commander in chief, but that's where things stand today. While many of their comments were framed as being simply about having zero tolerance for racism, it's pretty clear who they were referencing.

"[T]he morale and commitment of our forces — made up and sustained by men and women of all races — could be in the balance. Our allies around the world are stunned and our enemies celebrate; America's ability to help secure a peaceful and prosperous world is diminished."

A makeshift memorial to Heather Heyer, who died after being struck by a car driven by an alleged white supremacist on Aug. 12, 2017. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

3. "In homes across the nation, children are asking their parents what this means."

The president is supposed to be someone we can all look up to, who we can count on to represent all Americans. Trump's first 200 days in office show that his loyalties lie with his core base of supporters and no one else. Romney's point touches on the fact that the divisiveness being forged by Trump's statements could do lasting harm to the country.

"Jews, blacks, Hispanics, Muslims are as much a part of America as whites and Protestants. But today they wonder. Where might this lead? To bitterness and tears, or perhaps to anger and violence?"

White nationalist Richard Spencer is escorted by police out of the Aug. 12, 2017, rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

4. "He should address the American people, acknowledge that he was wrong, apologize."

If there's one thing Trump doesn't do well, it's apologize. In fact, he views apologies as a sign of weakness, instead choosing to double- and triple-down on his flubs. Romney is right: Trump should apologize; he won't though.

"[T]here is no conceivable comparison or moral equivalency between the Nazis — who brutally murdered millions of Jews and who hundreds of thousands of Americans gave their lives to defeat — and the counter-protestors who were outraged to see fools parading the Nazi flag, Nazi armband and Nazi salute."

5. "This is a defining moment for President Trump. But much more than that, it is a moment that will define America in the hearts of our children."

It's hard to overstate the importance of this situation. Trump has essentially said there is some equivalency between white supremacists and people who fight against racism. That's more than just despicable, it's dangerous. It's on him to make this right and not just for the sake of his own political career, but for the sake of the country he purports to lead.

"They are watching, our soldiers are watching, the world is watching. Mr. President, act now for the good of the country."

People hold a vigil outside the White House on Aug. 13, 2017. Photo by Zach Gibson/AFP/Getty Images.

Donald Trump says horrible things about women, but who said this?

Donald Trump's sexism is pretty obvious. Other candidates'? A little less so.

Donald Trump has a way with words when it comes to women — and not in a good way.

Whether he's calling a news anchor a "bimbo" or talking about how good someone would look "dropping to [her] knees," Trump's got a bit of a penchant for using colorful (and often downright sexist) language when talking about women. A new ad from an anti-Trump super PAC lists a few of his not-so-greatest hits:


GIF from Ace Metrix/YouTube.

It's a powerful statement, for sure. But how much do you know about what other GOP presidential hopefuls have said about women? We put together a quiz to find out.

The answers are below each quote in the caption, so don't scroll too fast!

1. Who talked up the good ol' days when women "left their kitchen to go door to door" for him?

Answer: C.

2. Who believes women can't be trusted to "control their libido?"

Answer: D.

3. Who said this about Hillary Clinton needing a spanking?

Answer: B.

4. Who had this to say about Hillary Clinton's authenticity?

Answer: C.

5. Who explained his anti-abortion views by saying a fetus "can't turn into a donkey?"

Answer: A.

6. Who suggested women on welfare should maybe just "find a husband?"

Answer: A.

Are Donald Trump's comments more blatantly sexist than these? Absolutely. But just because he's worse doesn't mean we should overlook these sexist statements from other people who want to run the country.

Watch the ad that sparked this discussion below.

Mitt Romney went on Univision. He then called undocumented immigrants "illegal aliens" as though they were an invading horde determined to destroy America. And then... well, we'd like to preface this by saying we would really like to actually cover important issues, but then Mitt keeps doing interesting things like, I dunno, intentionally darkening his skin to grub for Latino votes. Free campaign advice, Mitt. DON'T DO THAT. Also, don't call HUMAN BEINGS "illegal aliens."

Skeptical about this one? Believe me, so were we. Skip to the bottom for why we're not so sure this can be solely chalked up to a case of "bad makeup."














Now, we were obviously a extremely skeptical of this story at first. After all, everyone wears makeup on TV, right? Well, sure. According to this online makeup guide, "In both film and video work, makeup on the face and possibly even the body is needed — especially for people who will be on camera any length of time." This we know.




The guide also goes on to state, however, that "a shade of base or foundation should be selected that matches the normal skin tones, unless the goal is to slightly lighten or darken all skin tones. In this case, it's best not to go beyond two shades lighter or darker than the normal tone. There are about 20 shades available, but if for some reason the proper shade isn't available, shades can be mixed to provide an in-between shade." It should also be noted that hosts Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas are also wearing makeup in the photo at the top of this post.




So, seeing as how it's completely possible to create a shade of makeup that matches Mitt Romney's pearly white face (see: every other television appearance he's ever made), ask yourself what seems more likely:




1. Mitt Romney's makeup people suddenly became terrible at their jobs right before his appearance on the biggest Spanish language channel in the United States, or




2. Mitt Romney, already on the ropes with Latino voters by a margin of almost 40%, decided to pull the mother of all cheap political stunts.




The only other explanation would be that Romney naturally tanned his face several shades darker without any noticeable changes to his ears or the back of his neck in the few hours between an earlier press conference and this interview... somehow. Anything's possible with this campaign I suppose.

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Hard to believe, but this leaked Romney video is even WORSE.

Mitt Romney's plan for Israel/Palestine is literally to "hope that ultimately somehow, something will happen and resolve it." And that's not even the most damning line from this latest Mother Jones video leaked from a secret Romney fundraiser.

Here's the whole quote, with my incredulous emphasis added:


I'm torn by two perspectives in this regard. One is the one which I've had for some time, which is that the Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace, and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish.
Now why do I say that? Some might say, well, let's let the Palestinians have the West Bank, and have security, and set up a separate nation for the Palestinians. And then come a couple of thorny questions. And I don't have a map here to look at the geography, but the border between Israel and the West Bank is obviously right there, right next to Tel Aviv, which is the financial capital, the industrial capital of Israel, the center of Israel. It's—what the border would be? Maybe seven miles from Tel Aviv to what would be the West Bank…The other side of the West Bank, the other side of what would be this new Palestinian state would either be Syria at one point, or Jordan.
And of course the Iranians would want to do through the West Bank exactly what they did through Lebanon, what they did near Gaza. Which is that the Iranians would want to bring missiles and armament into the West Bank and potentially threaten Israel. So Israel of course would have to say, "That can't happen. We've got to keep the Iranians from bringing weaponry into the West Bank." Well, that means that—who? The Israelis are going to patrol the border between Jordan, Syria, and this new Palestinian nation? Well, the Palestinians would say, "Uh, no way! We're an independent country. You can't, you know, guard our border with other Arab nations."
And now how about the airport? How about flying into this Palestinian nation? Are we gonna allow military aircraft to come in and weaponry to come in? And if not, who's going to keep it from coming in? Well, the Israelis. Well, the Palestinians are gonna say, "We're not an independent nation if Israel is able to come in and tell us what can land in our airport."
These are problems—these are very hard to solve, all right? And I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say, "There's just no way."
And so what you do is you say, "You move things along the best way you can." You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem. We live with that in China and Taiwan. All right, we have a potentially volatile situation but we sort of live with it, and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it. We don't go to war to try and resolve it imminently.
On the other hand, I got a call from a former secretary of state. I won't mention which one it was, but this individual said to me, you know, I think there's a prospect for a settlement between the Palestinians and the Israelis after the Palestinian elections. I said, "Really?" And, you know, his answer was, "Yes, I think there's some prospect." And I didn't delve into it.






Good on you, Governor.